


Verdegrises

by unknowableroom_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-12-25
Updated: 2006-01-08
Packaged: 2019-01-19 15:41:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12413115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknowableroom_archivist/pseuds/unknowableroom_archivist
Summary: George/OC, Fred/?? - The joke shop is doing wondefully, but the love-lives of George and Fred are not.  Until, that is, a certain magical detective with mesermizing eyes enters their boring lives.  Takes place 2 years after they leave Hogwarts.





	1. Introductions

**Author's Note:**

> Note from ChristyCorr, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Unknowable Room](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Unknowable_Room), a Harry Potter archive active from 2005-2016. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after May 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Unknowable Room collection profile](http://www.archiveofourown.org/collections/unknowableroom).

Disclaimer: I own nothing; except anyone you don't recognize, which here would be Mira. Yay!

\-------

George raised his glass and clinked it with his twin’s. They tilted their heads and downed their firewhiskey: it had been a long week.

And it was only Thursday.

Business was doing fine, (as usual), but the Weasley twins’ personal lives were not flourishing as they should have been for two young, attractive and wealthy men. George had caught Angelina, Fred’s on-again, off-again girlfriend in the act with one of her Quidditch teammates, and had told Fred. (Obviously). Fred wasn’t completely surprised; he had almost suspected Angelina to be romancing at least one of her teammates, but he was still heartbroken. Although not as heartbroken as George would have expected him to be; he still held some of his humor. And George’s love-life? At the moment, it was pretty much nonexistent, but he was okay with it, what with Fred being upset...George knew he had to stick by his brother-

-even if that meant a Firewhiskey during lunch. On a Thursday.

“Well, m’boy, I figure we should go back and make sure Verity hasn’t “accidentally”� blown up the store.”�

Fred chuckled, “I think she wants to keep her job, Georgie.”�

“You never know with that one...”� The two men left some galleons on their table, and waved good-bye to Tom, and exited the Leaky Cauldron into the hustle and bustle that was Diagon Alley. They decided to walk back to their store: well George had decided for the both of them since Fred didn’t really care. As they passed the Quidditch Supply store, George dragged his brother along, not wanting him to dwell on Quidditch....

which would lead to Angelina....

and then perhaps a rant on how she cheated on him....

or worse, he might actually break down.

Thankfully, Fred had only broken down once, and that was immediately after George had told him, and after he threw some items in their flat against the wall, and after he had “gone to bed”�. George heard him practically weeping, and went in with a large bottle of Firewhiskey and some chocolate.

Fred had looked at him funny when he produced the chocolate, but George had only shrugged and said, “Works for girls is what I hear.”�

The men arrived back to their store to find Verity, the only other employee to be reading some Muggle magazine behind the counter, and blowing and popping bubbles with her chewing gum. “Verity dear, we’re home!”� George said cheerily as he leaned against the counter.

Verity merely rolled her eyes, “Hullo, dear.”�

George grinned and asked, “Any messages?”� while batting his eyelashes.

“No, Mr. Weasley,”� she replied without any real emotion and continued to flip through her magazine.

“Fred,”� George cried dramatically, “why doesn’t Verity see how much I care about her?”�

Verity looked up, ready to play this daily game she and her employers played, “Why, I do know, Mr. Weasley, but it’s against company policy!”� She put down her magazine and flipped her blond hair behind her shoulder.

Fred rolled his eyes watching this little show and said sullenly, “Verity, dear, why must you encourage the bloke?”�

George followed his brother to the back, shrugging to Verity, who went back to flipping through her magazine.

“You all right?”�

Fred didn’t look up from his desk where he was currently reviewing a flaw with one of their trick wands, “Fine.”�

George knew better than to press, so let his brother be, as he went to work on making more of their Love Potion Line products. 

“We’ll need to start hiring more employees if we plan to open in Hogsmeade.”�

“Yeah, but we’ll need to buy property first.”�

“We need to hop on that.”�

“Hm.”�

There was a faint tinkle, but the brothers continued their work. Verity would handle the customers. For whatever reason, Tuesdays and Thursdays were usually slower than the rest of the week. 

“Mr. Weasley,”� Verity’s voice filled their office via a loudspeaker, “there’s a witch here who wants to see your Defense line.”�

“You want this one, Fred?”� Fred didn’t respond. “Fred? FRED?”�

“Hm, what? Ah, you go ahead, ol’ chap, I’m in the middle of this, and I think I can fix it....”�

George nodded, and straightening his robes, walked out into the showroom where Verity pointed him over to a corner where a raven-haired witch was looking at the Canary Creams.

“Miss?”�

The young witch turned around, her black robe open to reveal a mid-length denim skirt and a white oxford. “Yes,”� she replied, grinning, “you must be Mr. Weasley,”� she extended a small, tanned hand which George shook.

“Oh please, it’s George, “ he smiled, her grin contagious.

“Mira Dean,”� she said, “a pleasure to meet you.”�

“And you, Mira. Now what can I do for you?”�

“Ah yes,”� George noticed her green-grey eyes twinkle, but before he could examine her face any further, she continued, “my father is a Muggle Private Investigator,”� at George’s blank expression she tried again, “a detective, a...Sherlock Holmes or James Bond of sorts.”�

“Oooh, ok, right.”� He tried not to look to sheepish when she smiled again.

“Anyway, he saw an advertisement for your Defense Against the Dark Arts line, and he thought that this would help with his tougher cases.”�

George looked skeptical, “Muggle cases?”�

Mira nodded, but added, “We do get a few magical cases, but I usually deal with those.”�

“Ah,”� George said, starting to smile again, “I see. So you’re like a magical Nancy Drew.”�

Mira laughed softly, “I’m surprised you know who she is,”� she shook her head slightly, “but I hope I’m a bit smarter and cooler than Nancy.”�

George smiled, “I’m sure you are.”�

Mira noticed he was about to say something, but before he could say another word she put her hand up and pulled a thick envelope out of her robe, “ID for my father and I, his license to practice, his high school and university diploma, my Hogwarts diploma-”�

“Hogwarts?”�

“Ravenclaw, year behind the infamous Weasley twins.”�

“Infamous?”� George feigned hurt.

“More like famous to the students, infamous to the teachers.”�

“Ah, much better.”�

She rolled her eyes playfully and continued, “My Healer-in-Training card, and references from clients for both of us.”�

“A Healer and a Nancy Drew, eh?”�

Mira’s light pink lips curved upwards, “Until I become a licensed Healer next week, more Healer than PI.”�

George nodded, “Ok, well, all this looks sufficient, I’ll show you to our stock and just confirm all this with my partner, so follow me.”� He led her to a closet about the size of a toilet that was off to the side of the main showroom, and excused himself so he could discuss this with Fred.

“Oi! Fred!”�

“Oi, what?”�

“Just here, look at these and confirm that this Mira Dean can purchase some Defense products.”�

Fred flipped through the envelope's contents. “Private Investigator for Muggles?”�

“She does magical cases.”�

“Muggles?”� Fred seemed skeptical of the entire idea.

“Come on, what harm would an Instant Darkness Powder do?”�

“Hmm...all right, you met the girl...”�

“Jolly good,”� George went back to the small room where Mira was holding a checklist of what she needed.

“Ready then?”� Mira nodded and he led her to the register. “You want these delivered?”�

Mira bit her bottom lip, and George couldn’t help but notice this sexy act that was done so innocently. “When would they be delivered?”�

George stepped on his own foot to bring him back to reality and disregard Mira’s lips for the moment. Thankfully, Mira took no notice of this strange act. “Well, we have a limited supply at the moment, so you can take some right now if you want them as soon as possible, or we can have them all delivered by next Friday.”�

Mira thought for a moment and said, “I’ll take what you have now, and have the rest delivered.”�

George nodded, and taking her checklist, went back to the closet to take the necessary items. He came back out with a bag full of Instant Darkness Powders and Decoy Detonators. “No Invisible hats?”� he asked teasingly.

She smiled. “Nope, not today.”�

“all right, it’s 35 galleons and 5 sickles total for everything, including the stuff that you want delivered.”�

She handed him the money, “Is there a form I should fill out for the delivery?”�

“Ah, yes,”� he handed her the form and a quill, and as she wrote, George was finally able to admire her beauty. She had shoulder length jet-black hair that wasn’t so black it was blue, but was extremely black. She constantly ran her ring-adourned hand through it, George had noticed, and was currently twirling a few strands of it; ‘A nervous habit’, George thought. Her eyes were slightly large, but still beautiful, a mesmerizing mixture of bright emerald green and a steel grey. George had never seen eyes like hers before, and he was taken aback by the intensity she had shown before while grinning. Her smile was contagious, and as George had realized, she had lovely lips, lips he wouldn’t mind kissing...he mentally slapped himself. She was short, but not too short: she came up to about his chin, so he figured she was about 5’5”� or 5’6”�. And she was, well, she wasn’t drop-dead gorgeous, (not many girls were, in George’s opinion), but she was still beautiful; she didn’t wear formfitting clothes the way many witches today had, but wore comfortable clothes that were still sexy. She were minimal make-up from what George could tell, but then again, what with her alluring eyes, there wasn’t much make-up could do for her. No matter how cliché he sounded, George could only think of one word for Mira Dean: lovely.

George was ripped from his reverie when Mira sighed loudly and faced him again. “Finished!”� She looked at George’s own green-hazel eyes, and George noticed hers twinkle again. “And the rest will be delivered....”�

“By next Friday.”�

“Perfect,”� she extended her hand, “thanks so much, George. It was a pleasure meeting you and doing business with you.”�

“Oh, the pleasure’s all mine, Mira.”�

She smiled, her eyes still twinkling. “Hope to see you again soon.”� And before George could reply, she had left, the door twinkling behind her.

\-------

A/N: So what did everyone think so far? This is my first Harry Potter fic, so PLEASE any and all criticism is MUCH appreciated. I’ve done some Tamora Pierce fics, so, um, I know how to write fanfiction....

I don’t know how long this story is going to be, but I’m going to rate it the equivalent of PG-13 for now, but it may end up being M later on, not sure yet....it’s going to be George/OC, and I’m basing Mira around a little bit of how I’d like to be, and also Veronica Mars, hence all this detective stuff...so this chapter is only the intro, and I’ll try to update ASAP...

-Tate Dean


	2. The Order

Disclaimer: Need I even bother?

\--------

The brothers locked up their store at the usual time for a slow Thursday, 9 o’clock. After bidding Verity goodnight (“She’s going on a date with Lee? AGAIN?”�), the twins Apparated to their flat.

“Mum said 9:15 right?”�

“Yeah, might as well go now, Mum’ll want to feed us...”�

Fred grunted and shed his bright sapphire robes off to don black ones instead. Mrs. Weasley despised the twins’ choice in work-robe colors more than anything. Except maybe Voldemort. At Fred’s grunt, George pretended to puke. “Fred, m’boy, that’s entirely unattractive.”�

“I try, brother.”�

“Try to what? Be repulsive?”�

“If only I could be half as repulsive as you.”�

“Oh, ouch,”� George said clutching his heart with one arm, and sliding his other into his black robes. 

Fred rolled his eyes and Apparated to a secluded part of Grimmauld Place. George tried to smile and thought, ‘Well, at least I got him to act quasi-normal for a minute...’ before he too Apparated to Grimmauld Place.

Before the twins could even mount the final step to 12 Grimmauld Place, Mrs. Weasley had thrown it open and bombarded her sons with kisses. 

“Mum!”� Fred tried to escape the flurry of kisses, “it’s only been a week!”�

Molly stepped back, slightly embarrassed from her son’s almost harsh tone, and tucking a stray piece of fiery red hair behind her ear replied, “I worry is all.”�

George smiled, trying to ease the obvious tension that Fred had started, “Got any food?”�

Molly, forgetting Fred’s greeting was exasperated, “You haven’t eaten yet! Well come in, come in!”� and she ushered the twins in to the front hall.

Fred continued in to the kitchen, still seemingly grumpy when Molly whispered to George, “How is he doing?”�

George watched his brother’s receding figure and whispered back, “Under the circumstances, fairly well.”�

Molly nodded and scurried in to the kitchen, “Beef stew is coming right up, boys.”�

Fred and George sat down at the large oak kitchen table in what was now officially Harry’s house. They sat in silence, waiting hungrily for their food when Mr. Weasley came up the basement stairs.

“Molly? It’s almost 9:15 and almost everyone is here already,”� he finally noticed the boys, “oh, hullo boys.”�

“Hullo, Dad.”�

“So could we begin?”� Arthur finished. Mrs. Weasley nodded preoccupied and shoved two bowls of beef stew into the twins’ hands and beckoned them down the dim stairwell.

Fred and George sat down on a small couch and nodded to the other Order members situated around the dim room. Remus, looking as haggard as ever, smiled at them as they sat down, but then looked forlornly at the chair next to him that was empty. Fred sighed inwardly, knowing that the chair was for Tonks, and couldn’t help but sympathize for the older man; “At least he knows for certain that Tonks loves him...”�

Fred’s thoughts were interrupted when Arthur unofficially began the meeting, “Good evening everyone. Not too much to discuss tonight besides how our individual progress is going. Obviously, Minerva, Kingsley and Tonks couldn’t make it this evening, but they sent us owls, as did Harry, and all seems to be fine at Hogwarts.”�

“How is Harry and the gang, Arthur?”� Mad-Eye growled from his corner, his eye rolling back and forth. George quickly covered his laugh from Mad-Eye’s use of the word ‘gang’. He nudged Fred with his elbow and out of the corner of his eye, saw Fred was thinking the same thing.

“They’re fine. He’s anxious of course, as we all are, but fine. Nothing out of the ordinary is going on at Hogwarts.”�

George and Fred shared another quick look. They knew about the horcruxes of course; Harry, Ron and Hermione had shared the information with the twins and Ginny, knowing that it would be best if someone on the inside of the Order knew about the horcruxes, in the rare chance that someone came across them. It had been a difficult decision for Harry, but he knew he could trust the Weasley twins just as much as Ron and Hermione, no matter how big of pranksters they were. 

There was suddenly a loud knock, and a muffled screaming from the matriarch of the Black family’s portrait, (someone had finally been able to glue the drape to the frame so that her agonizing screams were muffled. Molly sprang up, and as numerous bewildered eyes watched, practically ran upstairs to answer the door. She returned minutes later, a young witch walking down behind her.

“Mira?”� George asked, standing up in disbelief.

Mira’s eyes lit up when she saw the familiar face, “Well, hi, George!”�

Mrs. Weasley’s eyes were about to tear up when she said, “You two know each other, George dear?”�

“Actually Mum, we just met this afternoon.”�

Arthur stood and extended his hand, “I’m Arthur Weasley, I’m assuming you’re Mira Dean?”�

She nodded, still smiling broadly, “Pleasure to meet you,”� her smile faltered slightly when she continued, “I didn’t mean to be late...”�

Arthur smiled, his eyes soft, “Don’t worry, you can just sit-”�

“-right here between Fred and George,”� Molly interjected, and practically pushed Mira to the couch, where Fred and George parted instantly.

Arthur coughed when Molly continued to stand in front of the couch, her face beaming, and her hands clapped together in front of her face. She jumped at the sound of her husband’s cough and, trying to appear calm, walk back to her seat. Remus covered his mouth, trying not to laugh.

“I’m Fred,”� he whispered to the girl now sitting next to him.

“Mira,”� she whispered back, smiling, “I assume you were in the back when I came in this afternoon?”�

Fred nodded, but at the sound of Mad-Eye talking, both their eyes snapped back to attention.

Upon seeing Mad-Eye, Mira restrained a small yelp. She had never seen anyone like him, even though she was a Healer and used to seeing victims of fire or abuse, she had never seem someone so, so, deformed as Mad-Eye who was still able to fully function.

“How do we know she’s trustworthy?”� She heard Mad-Eye growl, and noticed his one, spazztic eye was rotating wildly in his head.

She fidgeted slightly under his gaze, but kept her composure. Sitting up straighter, she pursued her lips in defiance and replied, “You know I’m trustworthy because Dumbledore invited me to the Order,”� she saw that Mad-Eye was about to question this so she continued, “he invited me because he knew I’d join to fight You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters in a heartbeat since I witnessed them torture and kill my mother when I was two.”�

There was an eerie silence in the room after Mira stopped speaking, and Mad-Eye, although he would never admit was uncomfortable, instead took a swig of a flask that he produced from behind his back.

Remus coughed slightly and replied, “I think she’s trustworthy.”�

Mira tried to smile upon finally seeing her old professor, but the image of her mother being tortured by masked figures lingered in her head until she heard Mad-Eye speak again.

“Aye, but Dumbledore has seemed to make mistakes before...”�

George noticed a sudden change in Mira’s stance, and if he had been Mad-Eye, would have been fearful for his life. Her green-grey eyes narrowed in a terrifying glare that could have turned anyone to stone, and her hand started to reach into her robe as she started to rise off the couch. George noticed this, and tugged on her robe so that she was on the couch again, and patted the arm that was reaching for her wand.

Mira, knowing George was trying to calm her down, took a deep breath, but before she could say anything Arthur cut in, “Mad-Eye, I’m sure you didn’t mean that. If Dumbledore personally invited Mira, I think it’s only fair that we give her a chance. Besides, we’re trying to expand our group.”�

Mad-Eye’s one eye stayed on Arthur as the other spun around wildly, and mumbling incoherently, took another swig from his flask.

There was silence for a few seconds before a man named Henry questioned Mira, “What do you do for a living, Mira?”�

Mira smiled, a fake smile of course, but a smile nonetheless and responded, “I’m a Healer-in-Training and also a part-time detective with my father.”�

Henry looked skeptical, “A Muggle detective?”�

“Yes,”� Mira replied, slightly agitated ‘why is being a Muggle detective so odd to them?’, “but I also deal with magical cases, which is also why Dumbledore was so keen on me joining,”� Mira said this last bit while staring defiantly at Mad-Eye.

Remus leaned forward slightly, “Hello again, Mira.”�

“Professor,”� Mira grinned. Professor Lupin had been one of her favorite professors while at Hogwarts, and she had been sad to see him leave.

Remus smiled, “You can call me Remus now, really.”�

“I’ll try, Professor.”�

Remus’s eyes twinkled with amusement and continued, “Can you track or do background checks for witches and wizards?”�

Mira frowned slightly, “It’s not as easy to do background checks for witches or wizards, considering we don’t use computers, but I have enough sources inside the Ministry, along with numerous bugs that help me. And tracking is easy enough,”� she grinned, “I’m pretty much an expert.”�

Remus sank back into his chair, smiling, “Did you finish top of your class like I thought you would, Ms. Dean?”�

Mira grinned again, “Third, professor, third.”�

Remus looked at Mad-Eye, “I’d say the Order could use a smart, resourceful witch like Mira, don’t you, Moody?”�

Again, Moody mumbled incoherently, and Mira couldn’t help but smile. 

The mood around the room was now significantly lighter, so Arthur knew it was a good time to bring up his next topic. “Well, I believe it’s high-time our youngest members got their own missions from the Order.”�

Molly paled slightly, “Arthur, you can’t be serious...”�

“Molly, Fred and George are 19, and Mira’s 18, I think they’re old enough to do some smaller missions.”�

Molly, knowing she wouldn’t win this fight, reluctantly nodded her consent.

“Well, you three will be in charge of an informal search for Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape, as well as try to recruit as many new members as possible.”�

“Wicked!”� Fred and George nearly shouted in unison as Mira smiled and politely thanked Arthur from her seat.

Arthur adjourned the meeting, and before any more members of the Order (mainly Henry), could bombard Mira with more annoying questions, the twins dragged her over to a small table in a corner.

“You all right there, Ms. Dean?”� George winked.

Mira smiled, “Yea, thanks.”�

Before Fred could say anything, Remus walked over to the trio, “That was quite a display, Mira.”�

Mira, trying not to grin, asked as innocently as possible, “What on Earth are you talking about?”�

Remus smiled and engulfed Mira in a hug that she had clearly not expected. She hugged him back, and once he let go said, “The Order’s very lucky to have a such a smart, clever, and dare I say manipulating witch.”�

Mira feigned looking hurt, “Hmph! I only manipulate those I need information from!”�

Remus smiled knowingly and, looking at his watch, said goodbye to the three, and wishing them luck on their newly assigned mission.

Fred looked slightly perturbed at the reunion and asked, “We you guys best of friends back at Hogwarts?”�

Mira smiled, “He was my favorite teacher, and didn’t reprimand my behavior in class.”�

Fred and George, looked at each other and shrugged. “Riiiight,”� George finally said, “should we begin our plans for how we’re going to tackle our mission?”�

Mira looked at her watch and frowned, “I have an early session tomorrow at St. Mungo’s, so we can you guys meet at my dad’s office tomorrow evening?”�

“Sure,”� George said, “we’ll bring take-out.”�

“Perfect, see you tomorrow.”�

“See you.”�

As Mira walked away to say good-bye to and thank Molly and Arthur, George couldn’t help but notice how even though her robes were not exactly formfitting, they still showed her curves.

“She IS gorgeous,”� Fred whispered to his brother.

“Told you.”�

\--------------

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Any and all criticisms are welcome! Please review! ****


	3. Preparations

DISCLAIMER: Anything you recognize...not mine.

\---------

Mira, Apparting back to her flat from Grimmauld Place, flicked on the lights and taking off her cloak, went to the fridge to look for a snack. “Pizza...grapes...cheese...ah! pasta!”� Excited for cold penne pasta, she pulled out the container, and grabbing a beer flopped down onto her couch and flipped on the telly. Looking at the clock on her wall and seeing it was 10pm, she switched to BBC-4 and squeaked, “LITTLE BRITAIN!”� 

Trying to drink her beer while watching Little Britain proved difficult as she was laughing every two seconds. When her favorite show was finally over, Mira used her wand to banish the container to the sink and her beer to the recycling bin, and yawning, went to her bedroom to peel off her clothes. She quickly slipped on a pair of boxers and a loose tank and after brushing her teeth, hopped into bed hoping to get a goodnight’s sleep.

That proved difficult when all she could think about was a certain green-hazel eyed, red-haired, prankster. She had only met George today, and yet she felt like she knew him completely. Mira, as did the rest of Hogwarts, knew all about the Weasley twins’ crazy pranks and jokes that they played on anyone and everyone, and when she was younger, had always looked up to them. They could be sneaky and sly, funny and loud, but she realized now that they were also very serious businessmen, and she admired that. She had nothing against Fred of course...or maybe she did. He seemed almost distant and cold that evening, but for a good reason she was sure. But George...maybe she liked him more because his eyes had more green in them, or his hair was almost a shade darker than Fred’s...

But she didn’t really like George, did she? She’d only known him for maybe 8 hours. She thought of all those movies she saw during the summer by herself, where the girl would fall in love with the guy in high school immediately and then want to marry him. It made her sick, and yet she always watched these movies, as though they would make her feel better about herself. ‘I’ll never be so idiotic and stupid like that,’ she’d say, ‘I’ll never let love blind me like that,’ she’d say.

But was this love? Impossible! She barely knew George! And why was she thinking about this already when she’d just met the guy? It’s not like she hadn’t had boyfriends before.....

She had had a few boyfriends at Hogwarts...a few. As in two. She’d kissed a few more than that. As in four. And her boyfriends had only lasted a month at most. She was never very good at commiment...she’d get tired of her boyfriends quickly, and would dump then. Although her boyfriends never really seemed that heartbroken....

That made Mira think. Why hadn’t they been more heartbroken? Her boyfriends had never actually said, ‘I love you’, so maybe that was why. She wasn’t sure. And she never really asked any of her friends. Well the few friends she could have asked at least. Mira was not a loner at Hogwarts, she had friends. Only a few close ones, and numerous acquaintances since many wanted her notes from class. Which of course, she would never give them. A lot of her classmates were frightened of her because she could be very bitchy and very scheming or disruptive.

But being intelligent and a detective did that to you.

She could almost figure someone out within a few days. She’d know who they were, what they thought and why, what they liked and why, and she was rarely wrong. Maybe that’s why she’d get so bored with boyfriends....

‘Here’s hoping George is more interesting...’

\---------

Mira walked into St. Mungo’s that morning ready for another boring, uneventful afternoon.

And it was, for the most part. Except for some interesting news she heard from her friend Charlie.

Charlie was a fellow Healer-in-Training, but was two years older than Mira. He had been in Hufflepuff, and after graduating Hogwarts had traveled America for a year before working at a desk job at the Ministry. He had hated his desk job, so instead, signed up to be a Healer-in-Training. Mira didn’t know how long he’d last being a Healer. Charlie was one of those people who just seemed like he’d constantly be moving around to different places and different jobs. 

Charlie and Mira became friends their first day of Training simply because everyone else had been paired up already, leaving the two to be partners for the rest of their training. Charlie’s girlfriend was a waitress at some high-class restaurant, and so she heard all sorts of gossip. Which was one benefit (for Mira), of being Charlie’s friend.

“Got any exciting and new gossip for me, Charl?”� Mira asked as they finally sat down with their lunch trays at the hospital cafeteria.

Charlie bit a piece of his biscuit and thought. “Yea, actually...Diane said she heard from Dennis who heard from Parker that Draco Malfoy and Professor Snape had been seen entering Azkaban.”�

Mira spat out the sip of water she had taken, much to Charlie’s dismay. “Pardon?”�

“Yes, excuse you.”�

“No, no, what did you say?”�

“That Malfoy and Snape had been seen entering Azkaban...”�

“For what?”� Mira could barely believe what she was being told.

“Probably to see the elder Malfoy.”�

“Not to get him out, that’s way to risky.”�

“Probably, but ya never know...”� Charlie took another bite of his biscuit, finishing it and chewing vigorously.

Mira didn’t notice as she shifted her shepard’s pie around her plate. ‘Malfoy and Snape entering Azkaban?’

“Did anyone see them leave?”�

“Not that I know of....why?”�

Mira tried to look as innocent as possible, and smiled, her eyes brightening. “Oh, no reason, just wondering.”�

Charlie nodded and continued his lunch as Mira continued to think. ‘As unlikely as this whole scenario sounds, I might as well tell George and Fred later tonight....it could be a lead for us...’

\----------

Fridays were always busy at Weasleys’ Wizarding Wheezes joke shop, so Fred and George weren’t able to close their shop until 7pm that evening unlike the usual 6 on Fridays. So George quickly wrote a note to Mira explaining why they were going to be late, and attached it to the shop’s official owl, Ferguson.

The twins bid adieu to Verity and walked to their favorite deli down Diagon Alley. As they waited for their order to be made, George went to the restroom. Not even bothering to use the toilet, he walked over to the mirror and started fussing with his hair. 

As he realized what he was doing, he lowered his hand. ‘Why do I care what my hair looks like? I’m just going to be eating with Mira and Fred. Two friends, what do I care?’ He convinced himself and upon leaving the bathroom said to himself, ‘I don’t care’.

Fred, grabbing the bags rolled his eyes at his twin. “Relieved yourself then?”�

George, without hesitating made a disgusted face, “And why do you want to know this, brother?”�

“Just looking out for my twin is all,”� Fred said, and as the twins exited the deli smiled to himself, knowing all to well what George had been doing.

George and Fred Apparated to an alley off of the street Dean Investigations was located. They walked to the end of the alley, but noticing a Muggle, George whispered, “Robes,”� and with a flick of his wand, their robes had been removed. The twins turned out of the alley and stopped when they reached a building where a small sign read “Dean Investigations”�. They walked up the stairs and reached a glass door:

DEAN INVESTIGATIONS  
Thomas Dean, PI  
and  
Mira Dean, Assistant

George opened the door to a small waiting room that held two benches and a main desk with a bell. He tapped the bell, and looked around at the two closed doors, one read Thomas Dean and the other Mira Dean.

Mira’s door opened, and she peeked her head out. Seeing Fred and George, she grinned and opened the door wider. “Food?”� The twins held up their bags, and Mira ushered them into her spacious office.

“Welcome to my second home,”� she waved around to her couch, filing cabinets, bookcases, desk and chairs. “Sit! Sit! Break out the food!”�

They sat down around her desk and dished out the food while she moved her cameras and laptop from her desk.

“What’s that?”� George asked, pointing to a computer-type looking thing that was on the bookcase.

“That’s hopefully my way into the Ministry Files,”� Mira said, her eyes twinkling almost evilly.

George noticed and said dryly to his brother, “Should we be afraid that she could be more crazy than us?”�

Fred tried to smirk, but failed and merely replied, “I am a little.”�

Mira and George caught each other while Fred took a bite out of his sandwich and George mouthed, “Heartbroken.”� Mira nodded, knowing all too well that Fred wasn’t going to be acting like himself for a little while.

The trio ate for a few seconds when Mira broke the silence abruptly, “So what are you guys thinking?”�

George almost chocked on his pasta at her question: he had been thinking about what she’d look like without her jeans and grey polo on. Why was he thinking of Mira sexually? Well, besides the obvious...he was a guy, she was a girl...well not really a girl, more like a, a lady. But they’d be working together in a professional manner...he couldn’t be thinking about her sexually if they were on the trail of Malfoy or Snape.

“About our mission....”� 

“Oh,”� George took a swig of butterbeer and said, “Well, we figured they’re not at the Malfoy Mansion since Aurors have raided it at least twice in the past few months, and we don’t know where Snape lived during the summer months.”�

“Hm...yea.”� Mira stared at her pasta dish for a moment. “Oh yea! My partner told me...”�

“Partner?”� Fred asked, his eyebrows lost in his thick red hair.

Mira rolled her eyes, “No, not like that. My partner for my Healer-in-Training classes.”�

“Ohh...”� George began to breath again, and Fred smiled almost thankfully.

“Men,”� she mumbled. “Anyway, my Healer-in-Training partner, Charlie, told me that there were rumors going around that Malfoy and Snape had been seen at Azkaban to see the elder Mr. Malfoy.

George almost choked (again) on his food and Fred sputtered, “What?!?!”�

Mira nodded, “I don’t know if I believe it myself, sounds a bit dodgy, but it’s at least one lead...”�

“...but how do we follow that kind of lead?”�

Mira bit her lower lip and George crossed his legs underneath the desk. “Lemme think. It’d probably be sketchy if we went and talked to another inmate or guard...although.”� Mira paused, swiveled her chair around and pulled open a filing cabinet and started thumbing through thick files.

George peered over his desk, finally unable to uncross his legs, “What are you looking for?”�

Mira pulled out a file, looked at it, and cursing loudly put it back. She swiveled her chair back, only to see two very stunned faces staring back at her.

“What? Never hear a girl curse?”�

“Not like a pirate, no.”� George replied, smiling.

Mira grinned, her deep green and grey eyes lighting up, despite the fact that her idea had failed. “What can I say? Always wanted to be a pirate.”�

“So what were you looking that caused you to curse so beautifully?”� Fred smirked, and Mira noticed Fred looked sufficiently more cheerful than before.

“For a possible source I thought I had at the Azkaban gate, but looks like he was fired a few months back.”�

“Got a Plan B?”�

Mira tapped her ring-adorned thumb against her temple, an odd habit and thought for a moment before replying, “I’ve got some people who owe me favors at the Ministry, and I’ll ask them for any info.”�

“How do so many people owe you favors?”� George asked in bewilderment, “And adults no matter?”�

Mira leaned back in her chair, her butterbeer in one hand, “What can I say? It’s good to be a detective....”� She took another sip of her drink, not noticing that George was still looking at her intently.

Fred noticed however, and trying to save his brother from possible embarrassment, asked, “What will we do after you ask these people at the Ministry for this favor?”�

“Why, check out all the dodgy places of course.”�

“Of course?”� George smirked, realizing that he had been staring at Mira.

“Yea,”� Mira looked slightly abashed, “what else did you expect?”�

George looked at his twin, and Fred noticed he was acting like his normal cool, calm and collected self. George looked back at Mira, “In case you haven’t noticed, our hair kind of makes us stand out.”�

Mira chuckled, “You doubt my skills?”�

George raised an eyebrow.

“At sleuthing, Mr. Weasley. Get your mind out of the gutter.”�

“Gutter?”� George asked, confused.

“Never mind. Just stop thinking those thoughts,”� her mouth was stern, although George noticed her lip twitched slightly in an effort not to smile, and her eyes were twinkling. “You doubt my sleuthing skills?”�

“No, no, of course not.”�

‘Yes,”� Fred replied bluntly and playfully.

Mira opened her mouth in mock-shock, “How can I possibly live with myself knowing the infamous Weasley twins don’t trust my skills at being a private eye?”� She put a hand to her forehead in a very Gone with the Wind-esque manner.

“Hmmmmm...would we really call ourselves ‘infamous’?”�

Mira couldn’t help but laugh, “Does anyone ever stay mad at you?”�

The twins looked at each other and shrugged, “Not really no.”�

“Well besides Ginny.”�

“Yea but she’ll just hex us and then be fine.”�

“True...mum though?”�

“Not for very long though usually.”�

“True-”�

“Ahem.”� Mira interjected. “As much as I’d love to listen to you two banter on for hours, I’d like to show you how amazingly awesome my sleuthing skills are.”�

George and Fred chuckled softly. “Of course, Mira dear,”� George replied.

Mira rolled her eyes and placed a bottle on her desk before taking another forkful of her pasta.

George peered at the bottle. “And this would be...?”�

“Hair dye.”�

Fred’s hands immediately flew to the mop of hair on his head, “But I like it red!”�, he whined like a child.

“It comes out with the first wash.”�

“So why are we using Muggle hair dye?”�

“Because a paranoid wizard or witch who is hanging out at these dodgy places can’t detect it.”�

“Ahh.”�

Mira’s eyes crinkled in amusement, “Trust my skills now?”�

“Well...”�

“So we’re going to just barge into these ‘dodgy places’ and start questioning everyone?”�

Mira chuckled softly, “No, not exactly.”�

They waited for her to continue, and when she only continued to eat, George raised an eyebrow, “Please, enlighten us.”�

Mira grinned as she put down her fork and folded her hands on her desk. “Well, my apprentices-”�

“Apprentci?”� George inquired as Fred hit him upside the head.

Mira tried not to laugh, “No, definitely not, George,”� her green-grey eyes began twinkling again, “anyway, we’ll go into a dodgy place once. Not all of us of course at once. Since we’re dealing with mostly purebloods or those who pretend to be pureblood, we can use Muggle devices, like bugs.”�

“Bugs?”� Fred asked, slightly bewildered.

“Not insects, these,”� she produced from a desk drawer small black beige microphones and ear pieces. “We wear the ear pieces, and can hook some up to my laptop, and plant the microphones at the dodgy places. Then, we can go back to these places a second time a few days later we can start talking to people, say we’re passing through.”�

The twins nodded. “Not bad, detective.”�

Mira grimaced. “Please, do NOT call me that.”�

George smiled, loving that this would make her uncomfortable, and yet at the same time he knew she also loved it, “Surely, detective.”�

Mira couldn’t help but bite her lower lip in an attempt not to smile. “Just don’t make that a pet name, Mr. Weasley.”�

George batted his eyelashes as he leaned onto the desk, “Certainty, Detective,”� he said playfully.

Mira rolled her eyes and took another swig of her butterbeer as Fred tried not to snicker at the obvious chemistry between the two. “Got any other devices up your sleeve?”�

Mira put down her mug in thought. “I’ve got a Invisibility Cloak.”�

The Weasley twins’ mouths opened so wide that Mira wouldn’t have been surprised if she saw their stomachs. 

“Wicked!”�

“Where did you get your hands on that?”�

“Wicked!!!”�

Mira grinned at their obvious jealousy and replied nonchalantly, “My grandfather had two, and when he found out that his son-in-law and granddaughter were in the private investigations business, he passed them on to us.”�

Fred could barely breathe and George simply said, “Wicked,”� for the umpteenth time.

“I’ve also got something that lets me know if I’m in life-threatening danger.”�

Fred and George’s mouths closed and looked at her confused.

She moved her shirt collar slightly and produced a thin silver chain with a waning crescent moon and star. “The moon is etched in silver, but the star is made out of star dust and something else. No one’s really sure what...been in my family for years. It’s supposed to hum softly and vibrate if the danger is close.”�

George leaned closer to look at it, not entirely aware that he was therefore moving closer to her body. But his oblivious ended abruptly, when he felt her breath on his face, and he realized he’d have to cross his legs again soon.

Mira also noticed their close proximity and could not help the heat that rushed to her face causing her to blush slightly. Once George had finally gotten a good look and leaned back in his chair did Mira compose herself.

“Does it work?”� Fred asked, trying to break the slight tension between the two. 

“Not sure exactly...although my dad says that my mum gave it to me only a few hours before she was....”� Mira looked down at the necklace and took a deep breath, “tortured.”� She blinked once, refusing to shed any tears on something that she could not change. She tried to smile as she fingered the moon delicately, “I like to think she knew she was in trouble, so she gave me the necklace before hiding me in the closet.”�

Mira didn’t look up at the twins, but sat staring at her necklace in silence, on hand grasping on to it, and the other on the desk. George, concerned for his new friend, gently laid his hand on top of hers and started stroking it lightly with his thumb. Mira’s green-grey eyes looked up with such an intensity at George’s own hazel-green eyes that it was wonder George hadn’t cowered in fear. But he could see the hurt and pain in her eyes and he knew that even if she were to deny it, she wasn’t okay.

“Thanks,”� she whispered, and tucked the necklace back underneath her polo shirt.

“You sure you okay?”� George asked, still very concerned.

“Yea, thanks,”� she said again, and George took his hand away.

Fred watched this quiet exchange and knew that something was bound to happen between the two. Eventually. Or possibly very, very soon.

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A/N: What do you all think?? Please review!!! Next chapter will be up soon hopefully, and I assure you, it contains fluff!!!


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